Why Peter, James and John?

I was asked this week, "Why did Jesus choose Peter,  James, and John?"

That is a really good question. Why?

There are so many layers to the possibilities.

First, we can truly only deeply invest in a select few. Not everyone can be with us in our highest high and our lowest low. These three were the ones. They were allowed into the Transfiguration and the Garden of Gethsemene. 

Jesus modeled for us a simple pattern of investment. One beloved, a chosen select three to deeply invest in, and twelve to train and equip.

Even though John is called the beloved one, Peter is the one we see Jesus investing in the most of the three. Why? Peter is the one Jesus said, "He was giving the keys to the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 16:19). So, it makes since that Jesus would work deeply in Peter's character, knowledge, counsel, and understanding. The church would be born through his testimony.

But, what of the Sons of Thunder? James and John were known for being hot heads. It would be easy to say it was because Jesus needed to tame these two, but here is the reality.

James was the first Apostle to be martyred. His hot headedness was passion without Holy direction. Could it be that Jesus knew his passion would make him an important witness for God's kingdom? James needed to be present because James was going to give his head on the chopping block of Herod Agrippa. James needed to be fearless as he bore witness. Was Jesus giving him the gift of presence in the highs and lows because He knew it would give the fuel to James' passionate nature to speak boldly even in the face of death?

Now, John, he was the one who called himself the beloved disciple. He was the last of the Apostles to die. Is it possible that he felt beloved because he was the one Jesus knew would suffer through the pain of seeing and experiencing the loss of all his brothers suffering through horrific deaths for simply speaking the truth about Jesus? I wonder how many times John experienced the fright of flight before he penned Revelation.

Yeah, good question!

It makes me also wonder, What about you?  What about me? What is it that Jesus is allowing us to see, experience, or know?  How might these things be unfolding because He knows what we must do for God's kingdom to grow through our testimony? 

I dare say that like Peter, James, and John, we will not know the impact of our testimony today in the economy of the Ancient of Days.

Shalom, Shalom y'all! 

The Transfiguration

In the transfiguration, Jesus' glory was revealed. I once read that the miracle wasn't that Jesus' glory was revealed in that moment, but that it was concealed the rest of the time. Powerful thought.

This is my storyboard to remember this story.

Jesus is in the middle with rays beaming from Him. Moses holds a scroll and Elijah a shepherds stick while Jesus' arms extend as a cross to remind me they have come to talk to Jesus about what will happen in Jerusalem. 

A cloud encircled all of them. This reminds me that the voice of God spoke saying, "This is my Son, whom I love, listen to Him." 

Peter, James and John are just looking up as the Shekina (Glory) is revealed. I use the three figures to remember Peter wanted to create three tabernacles to celebrate this moment. Peter is pointing up so I know he is who spoke up. 

A simple sketch for a profound moment of remembrance. Can you imagine seeing something so miraculous only to be told, "Tell no one of this!" 

Matthew 17:1-13

Tanzanian Prayer Warrior

It was the middle of the night on a 16 hour plane flight. All of the lights were out and the quiet hum of the flight had lulled most to sleep. I needed to go to the bathroom so I walked my way back to the bathroom. It was occupied so I decided to stand and stretch when I noticed this woman in the middle of the bulkhead seat. 

Her light was the only light on in the entire plane. I realized her eyes were closed but her lips were moving. I then noticed that she was holding a Bible in her left hand and a pen in her right hand hovering over her spiral journal. I realized I was witnessing a holy moment. 

It felt so sacred seeing her in her quiet sanctuary praying. She was so beautiful. It was like the Shekina glory of God surrounded her.  I wanted to photograph her so I could try to paint her later, but I knew that that it would be wrong to photograph her so I just stood there and prayed over her while she prayed. 

Then all of a sudden a random man climb over her in the bulkhead seat and stir her out of her prayer. I was able to greet her and tell her she was beautiful. 

After the flight I saw her again, but this time I was able to ask her name. Meet Jane! 

Jane was returning from a family funeral in Tanzania. My heart broke as I introduced her to Danna. I offered to pray and she let me pray over her. Danna and I drew close to her and as I was praying, she fell to her knees right there in the airport on the floor. Danna and I bent low with her as I finished the prayer. Her grief was so raw. My heart broke more sharing the pain of saying good bye for now. I prayed for the God of All Comfort to pour His comfort and compassion on her family. 

When I was done she said, "How like the God of All Comfort to send someone to the airport to give me comfort as I am flying home." 

We took a photo together, hugged goodbye, and then we were off to our flights.  Strangers for a moment bonded in prayer and parting as sisters in Christ. 

When I got home I gave Greg my photo of Jane to him and asked him to have Ai recreate the scene for me so I could use it as my visual. I am amazed at what he was able to recreate for me. 

I call her my Tanzanian Prayer Warrior!

My mandate to the nations

In 2005 while on a mission trip with Lifeway Publishing, my team leader was prepping us to go into Paraguay to share the gospel. He told us, “We were going to smuggle Bibles across the most dangerous bridge in the world. This is the bridge that drug lords and gangs smuggle drugs, but we are going to smuggle Bibles across the border.” 

I honestly do not know if it was as dangerous as he made it out to be, but it sure did make me feel like I was on mission with God as a God smuggler! Each of us were loaded down with a backpack full of Bibles and we were trained in the Evangecube method of sharing the gospel. We were told that the bus would be back to pick us up at the end of the day and when it returned, we should have given out all of our Bibles and shared the gospel with as many people as we possibly could. 

We were dropped off at the Ciudad de market... the city market. Moacir, my interpreter, and I headed out and started walking. We barely knew each other, but we knew we were together on this mission. Him as a seminary student learning how to share his faith and strengthen his translating skills, me as a seminary graduate living the life as a housewife not willing to waste her time.

As we walked along, I wondered, “LORD, how in the world am I to know who we are to stop and talk to?” As I prayed questions to God, Moacir prayed, “LORD, show me the people of peace!”  

We walked past tarp covered booths as the rain fell on our faces when Moacir shouted, “Here! Here! We stop here!” I thought, “Who am I to argue!” I knew I had no clue. So, we walked up and there were three women sitting on footstools that were not more that twelve inches off the ground. 

Moacir said, “This is my North American friend. She is here to tell the story of Jesus. Would you like for her to tell you about Jesus?” One of the women said, “I have been asking GOD to send me a missionary to share Jesus with my friends. There was a missionary here a few weeks back and I asked Jesus to be my Savior. You are an answer to prayer.” 

So, I shared about Jesus and her two friends prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior. Our day was buoyed by this encounter not five minutes in and as the day unfolded, I lost track of how many people prayed to receive Christ as their Savior. 

At one point, we went through five languages for the gospel to be heard. I was blown away. We ran out of Bibles fast and just continued sharing the gospel. At the end of the day one man really wanted a Bible, but we did not have any, so he asked us to come back the next day. So, we agreed. But, I did wonder how we would ever find him.

We arrived as the market was opening the next day in order to ensure our new friend would have a Bible. As we walked into the market again, I thought it would be impossible for us to know where to find him. Then I saw him across the street. I started jumping up and down. It wasn’t too hard to miss me because I stood almost a foot taller than most of the people! He waved at me and grabbed a friend by the elbow. 

So, Moacir and I started sharing the gospel with our new friend’s friend. I realized that Moacir was speaking too quietly as he interpreted so I told him to speak louder. And I noticed that we had gathered a group of people that were listening. I would share and Moacir would interpret. I would press him to get louder because every time I looked up there were more people. Before it was all done, we were shouting as loud as we could so people could hear. I asked if anyone would like to ask Jesus to be their Savior and every person in the crowd lifted their hands. I was astounded. 

Moacir started jumping up and down saying, “Tara, you preach in streets! You preach in streets like John the Baptist!” 

It was in that moment that I caught the truth that I loved fulfilling the mandate to reach the nations! I have never in my life experienced anything like what I experienced on that trip, but I knew my life would never be the same.

Offer an open hand of fellowship

I tried painting a hand guiding, where the hand is a shadow because the light is so bright. I don't know if I like it. It feels like I failed in creating the concept. It just didn't go right. 

This morning in my daily reading, I had to laugh when I read it in the TPT.

"Offer an open hand of fellowship to welcome every true believer, even though their faith may be weak and immature. And refuse to engage in debates with them concerning nothing more than opinions" (Romans 14:1/TPT).

Offer an open hand of fellowship... oh boy. How often I feel like I fail when I am offering a hand of fellowship, too. 

Sometimes, it is because the other person might misperceive what I am saying as condemnation. 

Sometimes, it is because I offer my opinion when it is not wanted. 

Sometimes, it is because the person is not ready for welcome because of their own pain.

It feels like failure. In my mind's eye, I thought it would go one way, but it goes another. Ugh. Kind of like my open hand painting. I saw it going one way, but I just did not get it right.

Yet, as I tried I did learn something. One, drawing a welcoming hand is hard. I actually said that aloud to Greg when I was painting it. "Drawing hands is so hard!" So, I keep trying. I keep pressing in waiting for the practice to make the vision come to light.

Likewise, offering welcoming hands may feel hard when opinions differ, but it is so worth it when we take the time to build unity in diversity. It may take practice that determines to choose grace and mercy over being right. This is not easy. And we mess it up often. Or atleast I do. 

Maybe this is why Paul challenges us to make it our top priority to be at peace with one other while seeking to strengthen and encourage one another (Rms 14:19).

Consider it an act of love to not be right (Rms 14:21). 

Let's practice giving the open hand of welcome. We do not always have to be right or give our opinion. 

What if we choose to love by faith and give allowance to the other trusting that in time we will both get it right?

Who do the crowds say I am?

What do you see in common with these four paintings?

When I asked my group this question this morning several pointed out "all four men are praying." 

"They look like they are in pain, agony or suffering." 

One lady said, "I see with the color there is hope in the suffering."

This morning as I taught about the moment when Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do the people say I am?" (Luke 9:18-22) I used these four paintings to emphasize that the people or crowds thought Jesus was Elijah, John the Baptist, or a prophet of old. 

I wanted them to see they saw their character. The knew Jesus was like these men of faith, but still very different. 

Jesus confounded them. So much so that Herod, the governor, questioned, "Who is this man?"

As we were discussing this, it hit me, the crowds recognized His character of passion, prayer, and even willingness to suffer, yet they did not believe. 

Why?  

They lacked the love tgat moves forward in obedience.

They did not have the greatest commandment at work in them. They did not love Jesus with all of their heart, mind, soul, or spirit. So, the knowledge of His character led to curiosity and perplexity but not transformation.

No wonder Jesus challenged the disciples to answer, "Who do you say I am?" 

Our world will communicate many opnions about Jesus. And in many cases, they might know a real truth like He is a teacher or a prophet. But until they have the love, it will mean nothing. A clanging cymbol.

It is the love that is willing to join the suffering servant and press through the pain of a trial. 

What about you? 

Can you say you love Jesus? Or do you just know alot about Him?

Plan the noble path

"Plan your life around the noblest way to benefit others." (Romans 12:17/TPT)

What a beautiful verse. 

What a humbling verse.

What a convicting verse. 

As the heat of emotion rises, do I plan to be noble?

As frustration mounts and seeks to crescendo into anger, do I plan to be noble?

As annoyance creeps into my skin, do I plan to be noble?

As expectations fall short, do I plan to be noble? 

Oh my, what a great reminder! 

What might it look like "to plan to be noble?"

Choosing to calm emotions as they rise.

Telling frustration to calm down and listen.

Acknowledging annoyance and giving it a name, but not a lane.

Releasing expectations and seeking to see.

Not holding on to the negative, but focusing on the possibilities. 

Yes, Father, help us to plan our lives around the noblest path to benefit others as You did for us. In Jesus' name, amen